Not A Wedding Photog

I have a confession…I love shooting photos. I love creating art. I love capturing moments that my clients will love their whole life. That specific moment in time that instantly takes them back to the second the shutter snapped.

I do not, however, love to shoot weddings.

That may surprise some folks (especially the weddings I’ve shot, which–honestly–is a low number),but it’s true.

Now…I can shoot weddings. And I have. And the allure to do so because of the potential income is always there. But it’s not where my heart is.

And…if I’m being honest–I don’t have a passion for shooting weddings like some photographers I’ve met recently.

And it was this week, while sitting in a workshop on lighting that it clicked for me. The presenter (an AMAZING wedding photographer) said (and I’m paraphrasing)…”Don’t take a shoot if you’re not 100% in to it. It’s not fair to your clients who are super excited for their day. And it’s not fair to another photographer who would LOVE to have booked that shoot”

And that’s when it clicked.

I don’t like shooting weddings.

I love photography, so I can find elements of shooting the wedding I love. But overall there’s just something about shooting weddings that makes me uncomfortable and takes me out of my zone.

You know, the zone where I can shoot…and feel what’s going on and get that moment captured. Yeah, that zone. It’s VERY difficult for me to hit that zone when I’m shooting a wedding.

Senior pictures…yes.
Family portraits….yes.
Kids photos…sure.
Band performances…oh hell yeah.
Various events and actiony type thangs (air shows, car shows, etc)…definitely.
Engagement photos? FOR SURE! (I love love LOVE capturing the essence of a couple in love).
Nature shots…in a heartbeat.
Candids/Street Photography…yup, that too (although I don’t do as much as I’d like to with the Street Photog side…but the zone is there).

And the same ‘zone’ that I can hit with these other events…the same stride..is just slightly out of reach when I’m shooting a wedding. Not sure what it is. It just doesn’t click in the same way for me.

And now the hard part is going to be telling prospective clients that yes, I would love to shoot their engagement photos…but I’m not the guy for their wedding. I think though, that it will work out better overall for everyone. They get someone shooting their wedding that really has a passion for it and not someone who’s going to overthink everything and be a bundle of frayed nerves by the end of the day. I just don’t have a head for everything that goes in to shooting a wedding…and I’ve known this for a while…but …meh…no…I don’t know why I’ve still done it (favors to friends and family, perhaps).

There will, I’m sure, be special instances where I will shoot weddings. Dear friends and family will always rise to the top of who I will shoot for. But I won’t be soliciting wedding photography jobs for the foreseeable future.

There are some amazing wedding photographers in Columbus (some of them are my friends)…so, fear not. Someone will be able to capture your moment in time with the passion and caring that it deserves. 🙂

I don’t know why that felt like an apology…I guess in a way it was.

I think it was really more to just put out in to universe. The thought had been swimming in my head for a while and it wasn’t until I heard someone else vocalize it that it all came together.

And the hardest part for me from all of this will be saying ‘no’. But the presenter covered that, too.

If you say ‘no’ to the things you are not passionate about, you are making room for the things that you ARE passionate about to come in to your life.

And that makes a lot of sense.

I love it when we are shown a glimpse in to the innerworkings of the universe.

I went to that workshop to learn about lighting (which I did)…but I came away from it having gained insight into myself.

Awesome.